Early impacts of the October FAFSA

For almost a year now, enrollment teams have been buzzing with questions about the influence of the accelerated FAFSA calendar:

- Will students file earlier? How many?

- How will changes in student behavior shape college classes?

- How will those changes alter schools’ future strategic plans?

With a month of data now available, Royall & Company's research team collected results from 171 schools to provide early insights based on student actions—rather than simply speculative studies of student “intention” released earlier in the year.

Our data confirms that early FAFSA has sped up student filing rates, given us a more nuanced glimpse into student filing motives, and validated once more the fact that early senior marketing campaigns provide the greatest gains.